What this razz odds calculator does
Razz is seven-card stud played for the worst hand, and almost nothing you know from high poker transfers. Aces are low. Straights and flushes do not count. A pair is a disaster and two pair is worse. The best hand is 5-4-3-2-A, and the second-best is 6-4-3-2-A, because you compare from the highest card down. This calculator scores every seven-card hand under exactly those rules, including the ugly ones with two pairs and a trip, picks the best five, and plays out the remaining cards from a deck with your dead cards removed.
On sixth street and the river the result is exact; earlier streets run Monte Carlo with the margin of error shown. The Hand distribution button breaks each hand down by what it made: six-low, seven-low, eight-low and so on, with "paired or worse" at the bottom, and how often each of those actually won.
Entering hands
Three to seven cards per player, in any order, with spaces between players: Ac2d3h Ks9d7h is the best possible start against one of the worst. Up to eight players. Every folded upcard goes in Dead cards, and in razz that field is the whole game: if the three other fours are gone, your draw to a four is gone with them, and the only way the calculator can know is if you tell it.
Worked examples, computed by this engine
| Match-up | Equity | Method | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A23 vs K97, third streetAc2d3h vs Ks9d7h | 79.17% / 20.83% | Monte Carlo · 2.6M trials | Load → |
| A23 vs 456, third streetAc2d3h vs 4s5d6h | 52.85% / 47.15% | Monte Carlo · 2.6M trials | Load → |
| Made 7 vs 6-draw, sixth street7c5d4h3s2cKd vs Ac2h3c4d9s8s | 77.40% / 22.60% | Exact · 1,560 deals | Load → |
| Paired draw vs rough 9, fifth streetAc2d3hAs4c vs 9s8d6h5c2h | 56.43% / 43.57% | Exact · 672k deals | Load → |
A-2-3 against K-9-7 on third street is nearly 80-20, which is about what you would expect from the best start against a hand that already has a king. A-2-3 against 4-5-6 is the surprise: only 53-47. Both hands need four more low, unpaired cards, and the ace-deuce-trey is drawing to exactly the cards that the four-five-six already blocks for it and vice versa; the difference between the two starts is mostly which hand ends up with a six-low rather than a seven-low on the boards where both get there.
The sixth-street rows show how the river works. A made 7-5-4-3-2 against a hand drawing to a six is a 77% favourite with one card to come, which is the draw's outs and nothing else. A hand that has paired on fifth street is not dead: A-2-3-A-4 against a rough 9-8-6-5-2 is still a 56% favourite, because it is drawing to a wheel with two cards to come and the nine is not a strong hand to be sitting on.
The ranking, precisely
Compare the highest card of each five-card hand; the lower wins. If they match, compare the next card, and so on. Any hand with five different ranks beats any hand with a pair, regardless of how high the unpaired hand is, so K-Q-J-T-9 beats 2-2-3-4-5. Among paired hands, one pair beats two pair, two pair beats three of a kind, and lower pairs beat higher ones. The calculator chooses the best five from seven under these rules, which matters more than it sounds: with 2-2-3-3-3-K-K the right five cards are the two deuces, two of the threes and the king, giving two pair rather than a full house, and a lot of simpler tools get that wrong.
Dead cards, again
At a full razz table you see seven door cards on third street, and the ones that matter are the low ones. Each low card you see folded is one fewer for everyone drawing to it, you included. Enter every one you remember before trusting a number; load the first example, put three fours in Dead cards and watch A-2-3 lose a point and a half. For the split-pot version of the same low evaluation, use the Stud Hi/Lo calculator; for ace-to-five in a draw format, the A-5 Lowball calculator.
Frequently asked questions
5-4-3-2-A, the wheel. Aces are low, and straights and flushes do not count against you, so the five lowest different ranks win. 6-4-3-2-A beats 6-5-3-2-A because you compare from the highest card down: both are six-lows, then 4 beats 5.
Any hand with no pair beats any hand with a pair, however high the unpaired hand is: K-Q-J-T-9 beats 2-2-3-4-5. Among paired hands, one pair beats two pair, which beats three of a kind, and lower pairs beat higher ones. The calculator picks the best five of seven under exactly these rules, which is less obvious than it sounds when you hold three deuces and two aces.
Because on third street almost everything is still to come. A-2-3 has the better start by a lot, but both hands need four more cards that are low and unpaired, and the ace-deuce-trey pairs itself slightly more often because its cards are the ones every other low hand also wants. Against K-9-7 the same A-2-3 is nearly 80%.
Every upcard you have seen folded. In razz this is the whole game: if three of the fours are dead, your draw to a four is mostly gone, and the calculator will only know that if you type them in.
